Apple’s ResearchKit Expands Internationally

Apple’s ResearchKit apps aren’t restricted to US users anymore. Starting today, people who live in Hong Kong and the UK will be able to access the MyHeart Counts app, which collects data on physical activity and cardiac risk factors for a heart disease study run by Stanford University.

This is the first ResearchKit app to get an international release. […] But that’s just the beginning; the researchers behind the study want to make MyHeart Counts the largest study of measured physical activity and cardiovascular health to date.

My hunch is that the entities that care the most about ResearchKit aren’t mobile device makers. And, conversely, that mobile device makers don’t care much about this. (By “care”, I mean in terms of talent, tools, goals, investment.) Of course, most device makers depend on Android. So, it’s understandable; their options are limited. (Unless… they invest in experiments that use ResearchKit.) And so Apple moves forward, learning, quietly.